I was using an older firmware recently and found out I could not burn DL media. Since then, I have downloaded the bin which is at the top of this thread. Is that bin still considered the best firmware for the 3500? Or should I be looking elswhere for the current best firmware for my drive?

If you're not into playing around with custom media speed edits, then I would recommend this one. It's based off the MadDog 2.FD so it allows bitsetting and I believe it even does DVD+RW but only with brand-spanking-new discs (i.e. not full erased either). http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/3500/3500_2.FD_NS+RPC+RL.rar